KILLER HORNETS FROM CHINA ARE DEVOURING EUROPEAN BEES - THEY HAVE ALREADY STUNG AND KILLED PEOPLE IN FRANCE

Originally from China, the insects have already spread as far as France, where six people have died from anaphylactic shock after being stung. 

 

Killer hornets that can eat up to 50 honey bees each a day are the latest threats to European hives.  UK government scientists are drawing up a rapid response plan to combat the arrival of the deadly Asian hornet in Britain. 

Swarms of the hornets are capable of wiping out entire honey bee hives within hours. 

 

UK Scientists at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) now fear the hornets will cross the Channel in consignments of imported wood, fruit or flowers.

 

Beekeepers have been sent alerts warning them to be on the lookout. People who find the hornets are urged not to approach their nests but to contact the authorities.   Exterminators will be deployed to destroy their nests, normally found high in tees or in buildings, with chemicals or by burning them.  

 

Britain’s bees are already under unprecedented threat.   There are now just 25 native species and numbers may be as low as 50,000 at the height of summer.   They are vital to pollinate crops, providing a critical link in the food chain.

 

Source

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2620252/Killer-hornets-China-eat-50-bees-DAY-latest-threat-Britains-hives.html

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Asian hornets terrorize France.  Tourists warned
Squadrons of the insects hover over hives and pick off hapless honeybees in mid-air. A handful can destroy a nest of 30,000 bees in just a couple of hours. They first settled in the forests of Aquitaine, but quickly fanned out to surrounding areas, thriving on rising temperatures linked to global warming and the lack of indigenous predators. Besides the risk to humans, the hornets have decimated France's already dwindling bee population.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6049302/Tourists-warned-as-Asian-hornets-terrorise-French.html

 

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